Pesach 5782

A Passover Teaching

Dear CBST Extended Community, I am so happy to be back at CBST after my sabbatical. I am grateful to everyone at CBST who made this possible. I look forward to being with all of you!

This past Friday night was my first night back in our Wine Family Sanctuary after these six months away. It was such a joy to be there with so many of you! We welcomed the new month of Nisan anticipating Pesach/Passover in less than two weeks. I will be leading our first in person first night Seder with Cantorial Intern Sam Rosen and Music Director Joyce Rosenzweig on April 15. Details below with a full schedule of all Pesach related services and programs! Pesach is known by three different names: זמן חרותנו Z'man Cheiruteinu, חג האביב Chag Ha'Aviv, and חג המצות Chag HaMatzot – the time of our freedom/liberation, the festival of spring and the festival of matzot. Each name teaches us something significant and paradoxical about the time we are in. In celebrating our freedom, we remember we were enslaved people. We hold both at the same time in this season – we remember our slavery at the same time we remember what it feels like to experience freedom. בכל–דור ודור חיבים אנו לראות את –אצמנו כאלו יצאנו ממצרים B'chol-dor vador hayavim anu lirot et-atzmeinu k’ilu yatzanu miMitzrayim. In every generation it is our obligation to see ourselves as the one who has gone from slavery to freedom.

We celebrate the spring blossoming of possibilities and new growth, at the same time we feel the winter in our souls in our world. כי–הנה הסתו עבר Ki-hineh hastav avar... For lo the winter has passed...

We eat matzah to remember the horrific and rushed circumstances of refugees fleeing violence and oppression. We eat matzah inviting all in – reminding us of our commitment to those who have less, and to remind us of our obligation to share whatever we have because we know what it is to eat matzah when there was no choice. הא לחמא עניא Ha lachma anya... This is the bread of affliction... May this be a season of new green growth of freedom and beauty in our world frozen over with winter’s hard ground. May our souls blossom with bursting buds of light and love. חג שמח Chag Sameach,  Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum Senior Rabbi

Celebrate

✡️ CBST First Night Community Passover Seder 5782 ✡️ Friday, April 15, 6:30 p.m. This year, we are thrilled to host our first in-person Seder at CBST since 2019. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Cantorial Intern Sam Rosen, and Music Director Joyce Rosenzweig will lead the Seder. Seder will follow a brief Shabbat/yom tov ma'ariv service. Watch CBST's eNews for virtual join link information. For those interested in attending in person, we are offering a fully catered, kosher Seder meal at $135/person. Those who wish to support CBST’s livestreamed Seder can do so here.

Second Night Seder Saturday, April 16 There are many ways to observe the second night of Passover! If you are a CBST member seeking to attend a second night Seder, or you have seats available at your Seder, either in-person or online, you can email Judy Hollander at sedermatch@cbst.org to inquire and request a connection. You can also utilize the UJA Find-a-Seder Tool to locate a Seder near you. Looking to hold your own Second Night Seder? Check out onetable.org/passover for resources, and even micro-grants!

Prepare

Bedikat Chametz: Searching for Leaven

The night before Passover, immediately after sundown, one begins the search for leaven. The aim of the search is to be sure that no leaven has been left behind after the cleaning of the house. The procedure includes these items: a candle; a feather, which acts as a broom; and a wooden spoon into which the pieces of bread will be scooped. Read more about this ritual here >>

Get Your Passover Haggadah for CBST's Annual First Night Seder We encourage Seder participants to follow along in their own Haggadah as part of “the people of the book”—it really transforms the experience! In one attractive, beautifully illustrated volume are the traditional prayers, biblical texts, historical notes, song lyrics and a play for children to perform. Get yours here >>

One Mitzvah Leads to Another: Sell Your Chametz Halachah (Jewish law) prohibits eating chametz (leaven) during Pesach and also forbids us to even own chametz. Our tradition provides a legal procedure: you can sell your chametz and, an hour after after Passover concludes, you can "buy" it back (without actual delivery or pick-up). This year, Rabbi Rapport will serve as your "Chametz Agent." There is no fee—you can make a contribution (maot chittim) here >>

Families with Kids

FREE Passover Audio Adventure for Families with Kids ages 2-8 Get a K'ilu Kit and celebrate at home This engaging storytelling play-experience brings the Passover journey to life right in your own home through an interactive audio-led musical adventure. Play the story and sing a long “as if you yourselves” were leaving Egypt. Follow your Moses basket puppet on the printable story map. Make a burning bush paper lantern. Get your free kit by emailing children@cbst.org with your children’s names & birth dates. For Preschoolers to Third Graders Watch our Aggadah Adventure Passover Play and complete fun family challenges! Date and time details, and more programs, coming soon at cbst.org/pesach. 

Learn

Bringing Your Seder Home Whether taking a seat at CBST's virtual table, or opening the Haggadah with those who share your home, get an introduction and some advice about the order of events here.

Set Up Your Seder Plate Discover the classic symbolism of the items on our seder plates (or their creative alternatives!) and consider the addition of a symbol that represents a contemporary struggle for social justice equity with this short article by T'ruah's Executive Director, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, or this interview featuring CBST's own Director of Social Justice Programming, Rabbi Marisa James.

Get Ethically Sourced Passover Chocolate Celebrate our liberation from slavery with chocolate guaranteed to come from companies that do not engage in child labor, slave labor, or other human rights abuses endemic to the chocolate industry. A collaboration between Equal Exchange and T'ruah.

Top painting: "Passover (Redemption)" by Karin Foreman